Writers' Theatre season includes 'Gabler'

Kate Fry will star as Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" as part of the 2013-14 season at Writers' Theatre Chicago. Kimberly Senior will direct the new production of the famously passionate drama for a January opening.

The fall at Writers' Theatre, located in north suburban Glencoe, will include the Midwest premiere of "The Old Man and the Old Moon," a mythological piece with puppetry and an indie-folk score, produced in collaboration with the New York-based PigPen Theatre Co. That's followed in October by William Brown's production of Conor McPherson's "Port Authority," a series of interconnected monologues about generations of Irishmen, first produced in 2001. "Port Authority" will be staged at Books on Vernon, Writers' tiny second stage.

In March 2014, Henry Wishcamper, a director newly based in Chicago, will helm August Strindberg's "The Dance of Death." This will be the American premiere of McPherson's adaptation. The Writers' season ends in May 2014, with a new musical with a book by Laura Eason and a score by Alan Schmuckler. "Days Like Today" was inspired by the plays of Charles L. Mee, a writer who has encouraged the free adaptation of his works. Michael Halberstam will direct.